For Star Wars fans of certain age, who can only imagine Harrison Ford as a youthful 34-year-old, Mark Hamill as a fresh-faced 24-year-old and See Threepio as a shiny 200-year-old, it seems almost impossible to say that the one and only Carrie Fisher today celebrates her 58th birthday.

Forever immortalised as a 19-year-old bun-headed, impetuous, strong-willed, shampoo bottle topping, warrior princess – today not only marks another year in an incredibly packed life, but another step towards her return in next December’s Star Wars Episode 7.

But what else is there to know about Carrie, other than the impact she’s had on popular culture – certainly geek culture – and THAT bikini?

You might be surprised. Born on 21 October 1956 in Beverley Hills, Fisher was the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, two huge Hollywood names that kids today might not be familiar with, but to draw a comparison it would be something like Jennifer Lawrence marrying, oh I don’t know…Chris Martin.

Destined to be an actress, she enrolled in drama school and had her first big break playing the opposite to Warren Beatty in Shampoo.

But her huge break, of course, came with a little fancied sci-fi film in the late spring of 1977 called Star Wars.

What’s perhaps not so well known are these 10 random facts about Carrie Frances Fisher:

1. As well as appearing in The Big Bang Theory, Entourage and Smallville she plays a regular character – Angela, Peter Griffin’s boss – on Family Guy.

2. Her first novel, Postcard From The Edge, was turned into a film starring Meryl Streep, and its success led to work as a Hollywood script doctor.

3. Her movie script doctoring includes Hook, Sister Act and The Wedding Singer while on television she worked on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles for George Lucas.

Carrie Fisher (Picture: Tommaso Boddi/WireImage)

4. As well as playing Princess Leia she’s also voiced another famous Star Wars character, twice. She voiced Mon Mothma in the Family Guy episode It’s A Trap and in Robot Chicken Star Wars 2.

5. She was married to singer/songwriter Paul Simon between August 1983 to July 1984 after dating on and off since 1977.

6. In 2011 she was a spokesperson for weight loss system Jenny Craig.

7. Dan Ackroyd proposed to her on the set of the 1980’s film The Blues Brothers. In the film she played the jilted bride of John Belushi’s character, ‘Joliet Jake’ Blues.

8. Her breasts were famously taped up for the original Star Wars, with George Lucas explaining that there were no bras in space. Clearly this attitude had changed somewhat by 1983 and Return of the Jedi, where she wore THAT bikini.

Carrie Fisher in THAT bikini (Picture: YouTube)

9. She wrote and co-executive produced a TV comedy film called These Old Broads starring her mother Debbie Reynolds as well as Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Collins and Shirley MacLaine. Taylor famously stole Reynolds’ husband (and Fisher’s father) Eddie Fisher away from her years before.

10. She is one of only a few actresses to have starred with both John Belushi and James Belishi (The Blues Brothers with John and The Man With One Red Shoe with James.)

So there you have it, a few nuggets about the last daughter of Alderaan Princess Leia AKA Carrie Fisher.

And if the last 58 years are anything to go by, there’ll be plenty more fascinating facts to add to the list by her next birthday.